Half of consumers will be using mobile payments by 2018

Have you used in-store mobile payment yet? According to a new report from Gartner, the technology is gaining acceptance and half of consumers in mature markets are expected to be using smartphones or wearables to make mobile payments by 2018.

TechRadar reported earlier this year that across Europe there will be around 1 billion payment points supporting Near Field Communication (NFC) contactless transactions by 2018, allowing consumers to tap a smartphone or bank card to pay for goods, and by 2020 every payment terminal in Europe will accept contactless payments.

Consumers currently have three types of mobile payments or mobile wallets to choose from: smartphone or wearable-based payments, branded mobile wallets from banks or credit card providers, and branded mobile wallets from retailers such as Starbucks.

However, Gartner says that mobile payment options such as Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay will be limited in the short to medium term due to a lack of partnerships between retailers and financial organizations, as well as consumers seeing little value in such payments.

“Any mobile payment wallets that are tied to the device will have limited adoption and only if the device has a huge installed base,” explained Annette Jump, research director at Gartner. “Instead, cloud-based solutions will have a better chance to succeed as they can reach a wider audience and can support many use cases beyond face-to-face or in-store options.”